Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The subject of this debate is hugely important to the safety of our citizens and to the quality of our democracy. We are addressing the integrity of the police service, An Garda Síochána, and the mechanisms established by this Oireachtas to ensure proper accountability of that service.

I stress the word "service". Too often we hear the word 'force' in respect of police here and in other jurisdictions. The Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinane, addressing the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, issue, referred to "my force". That displays a certain mind-set which has to be addressed if we are to see real reform and real accountability in policing. We need political will on the part of Government to ensure real accountability. Its conduct in this controversy, and especially, I regret, the stance of the Minister, shows a distinct lack of will in this regard. The instinct of the Government and the Minister has been to try to close down this issue as quickly as possible. It has been a closing of ranks.

It is in the interests of the public, and equally of the gardaí and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, that we get to the bottom of this issue. We need to know if GSOC was indeed subject to a surveillance attack, why it was targeted in this way and by whom. We need to know the background, including the relations between GSOC and Garda management and we need to scrutinise the response of Government and of Garda management. The Sinn Féin motion provides the mechanism for all of this.

I believe the majority of gardaí provide a good public service, often at great risk to themselves. I have no hesitation in paying tribute to them for that. They are tasked with serving the people and, within the limits of resources, they generally do that very well. How well served are the public and the rank and file gardaí by the structure of the Garda Síochána itself and by the restrictions, set by Government, on resources? Most would answer "poorly". At the root of the current controversy is the failure of successive Governments to reform and modernise the Garda Síochána and to provide for robust accountability for the police service. The Garda Síochána Act 2005 went some way towards reform but fell far short of what was required.

The establishment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was a step forward, undoubtedly, which we welcomed at the time. We also, however, pointed out its shortcomings. Its powers are insufficient; the limits on it are too restrictive. The then Fine Gael Justice spokesperson, the Minister's party colleague, Jim O'Keeffe, urged in the Dáil in February 2005 that the Government should look to the North where the Police Ombudsman had been established and where the Police Service of Northern Ireland had replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary.

The first Police Ombudsman there was Nuala O'Loan, now retired. Commenting on the GSOC controversy in the past week, she pointed to the insufficient powers of GSOC compared to the Police Ombudsman in the North.

With respect to others in the Oireachtas, no one can speak with more experience and more authority than Sinn Féin on the long and painstaking task of transforming policing in the Six Counties. It has been one of the most fundamental aspects of the entire peace process. While the task is far from over, it can also be said that it has been one of the successes of the peace process. In the North, we have replaced the RUC, a highly militarised, politicised and sectarian police force, with a record of sustaining a one-party state and later taking the front line in the British Government's counter-insurgency war. In its place the Police Service of Northern Ireland was established and, while very far from perfect and with much work still to be done, it has begun the complete transformation of policing. This could only have happened in the context of a peace process and a political process based on parity of esteem and inclusivity. We in Sinn Féin have played a key role in that achievement.

It is one of the ironies of history and of the peace process that we now have a situation where policing reform is more advanced in the North than it is in this State. It is useful, therefore, to compare the current situation North and South. At our request the Oireachtas Library and Information Service carried out a comparative analysis of An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and I would like to summarise that analysis. When compared, both An Garda Síochána and the PSNI are similar in organisational structure, rank-command and geographical layout. Based on census 2011 figures for both jurisdictions, there is one full-time Garda member for approximately every 349 people in the Twenty-six Counties, and one full-time member of the PSNI for approximately every 244 people in the North. The main difference is the additional layer in the Six Counties provided by the Northern Ireland Policing Board, which provides a layer of democratic and broad-based community accountability. A similar structure does not exist here in the Twenty-six Counties. A democratic policing board for the Twenty-six Counties is something we in Sinn Féin have repeatedly called for.

Regarding complaints procedures, both jurisdictions have police ombudsmen. While similar in structure, the Office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland, OPONI, has a larger staff and budget than the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. More significantly, perhaps, the GSOC refers some complaints to the Garda for investigation. The OPONI, however, has its own staff to carry out all its investigations. Both bodies prevent police officers from making complaints about or against fellow officers.

While the matter which has brought about this motion and this debate is of serious concern and needs to be addressed in its own right, I believe it has also opened up a healthy debate about the need for an improved police service here with robust accountability. We can and should learn lessons from the experience of peace building and police reform in the neighbouring part of our island in the Six Counties and apply them in this jurisdiction, working towards better policing on the whole island in the interest of all who view it as home.

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